Epilogue

Cole and Abby’s happily ever after has been hard won. But they’ve passed through the darkness, and a period of peace lies before them.

Though one can’t take these things for granted. Ever.

Cole’s brother Jared is on his way home, too…

Also, Cole is worried about his Delta North Force brothers. They were so close while serving together in the war, yet now they’re scattered all over the continent. Each one is left to cope with their own challenges, without any help.

It can be very tough, and lonely, for a soldier coming home.

What can he do to help them? Can he maybe even find a way for them to work together again? The thought has excited him. It’s on his mind, something fierce.

But another Delta North Force man is having a tough time, now. Abby’s brother, Dare. The one who took such good, kind care of her. It showed in his face when he worked at the build repairing the children’s facility—he’s got problems. Serious ones.

Where’s he at, right now? How is he coping, this very moment?

Well, on tropical Chandelle Island in the South Pacific, thousands of miles away, as the seagull flies and dips in the sun…

* * *

Dare Logan’s gut roiled. He didn’t notice the tropical rain forest crowding in on him, or the sweat dripping down his back. He barely noted the crashing of the waves, through the forest, down at the edge of the beach.

Shit. You’d think things would actually calm down when you left a war zone. When you spent time building your business, and doing for those less fortunate.

Hell, he’d just gotten back from Dawson Ridges, where he’d helped his sister Tabby shore up her small community. He’d worked with a group repairing a home for sick kids, so they could stay close to their parents.

Then, he’d come to this abandoned little jewel of an island in the South Pacific. To work. Not to vacation, but to work. Hard, physical labor. To use his unparalleled survival knowledge on an industry icon’s photo shoot.

All while he figured out his next move with the woman he couldn’t forget…

…his ex.

If there even was a damn move, after what he’d done.

He shoved his hand raggedly through his hair. All that should get a man massive brownie points with the universe, right? Give him a few moments of damn peace and quiet? Give him a shot—however vague—at appearing to be a sterling example of a well-put together, verbally competent man, with buckets of emotional intelligence, when he came face to face with the woman, unexpectedly. Right?

Not.

In fact, Dare thought, as he strode down the cool forest path to the beach, it had been a bloody ordeal.

First, the shock of seeing her. The woman who’d loved him enough to support him like no other through his lean years, once upon a time.

His babe. Abby.

He hadn’t seen her for three, long years. The shock of it had punched him in the gut, knocked the breath from him. He knew how to be prepared for anything—it was part of his special ops training.

Yet seeing Abby Haines was harder to deal with than an entire platoon of enemy soldiers hell bent on killing him.

Way harder.

He’d had to contend with her, right in front of him. The tropical humidity had painted a thin sheen of sweat on her, mixed a fine, sandy grit into it. Her damp hair had stuck to her head, flat, and her clothes were wrinkled. Yeah, he thought, as he reviewed the mental picture.

She’d always been hot.

The worst of the chance meeting though, had been the look in her eyes. The shock, then the cool disdain that quickly replaced it. It hurt again. Fresh.

But the absolute worst had been knowing that he’d put all that there, all by himself. Even though he’d tried like hell to keep her, done whatever he could.

No man wanted to drown. And being without Abby… was drowning.

He’d drowned.

He continued on toward the crashing surf, glad he knew the island down to a T. It saved him time he didn’t have right now while his mind went on its own version of a shocked bender, as he replayed the last few minutes. And berated himself for being a moron, when he’d seen her.

Basic English had fled his brain. Apparently, when she was in the room his mind pitched into neanderthal mode. Yeah. Call it what the whole damn episode had been.

FUBAR.

Fucked up beyond all recognition.

He pushed swaying fronds from his path. Despite all the grim realities of his current situation, old memories rushed in, engulfed him.

Abby, all those years ago. On his arm, laughing. Delighted just to be in his presence. His shock—the shock that never quite went away— at the adoring look in her eyes, the one she couldn’t hide, even with all her sass and teasing. He’d been the guy from the wrong side of the tracks, with no prospects. A loser. Only she’d never seen him that way.

He’d been her hero.

And that had been long before Delta North, before he’d sorted himself out. Before he was a spec ops solider. When he’d just been some guy.

She’d loved him simply the way he was.

The recollection gutted him.

Once they parted, he’d drifted. Thank god he’d ended up in his town’s small military reserve unit. The example of the men there, their determination to live good and worthy lives had transformed him. It had been the saving of him.

It hadn’t been easy. But he’d worked hard, and ended up a spec ops soldier, overseas, at a critical juncture in the war. With the Delta North Team.

An elite unit cobbled together from both Canadians and Americans, from regiments spread out across the country. The unit was special, born of a unique need for elite missions. And with their special talents and skills, the Delta North Team had changed the course of the war.

Yet, it also seemed that none of his close military buddies had been able to get their shit together, life-wise, once they got back home. What the hell was up with that?

Nathan, the soldier with the ridiculous last—Hero—was one. He still hadn’t gone back home to Jack’s Bay, and vowed he never would. He said too—if you got him talking after a few beers—that he’d always be a loner too, because of his past.

What the hell was up when a good man, a superlative SEAL, in fact, thought he’d be alone…forever?

Parker Bowles, too, was another. Cheerful and on good terms with life, saving the environment and endangered species were his passions, as he worked with Parks Canada. Yet no one had appeared on the stage for him, either. Such a heart, such a protector. Was he slated to be alone for the rest of his life, too?

Then, there’d been Rufus. A regular guy, quiet. Basic, some said. But the dude was deep. Known as the gentle storekeeper on Jacqueline Street, he’d served, too. Yet, he wasn’t happy being alone anymore either, with no one to warm his heart, or his bed.

Og Reiden, lastly. One of the toughest men in their unit, he was an American with business interests that took him all the way from New York to Refuge Bay, in the Chesapeake Bay area. But he’d been dependable, and always gotten the missions done, and volunteered when no one else did. Was he going to be alone, too, with no one to make him crack a smile? Or let him let loose…just a little?

Dare shook his head. It just wasn’t right.

The only damn exception was their platoon leader, the man he respected most of all. And that man—Dark Storm, or Cole Dawson as he was known in real life—had ended up with someone wonderful.

My own damn sister. Dare smiled. Tabby. And for that one thing, he was incredibly grateful.

Yet here he was, now, facing his own life. Once he’d gotten back, it hadn’t been as satisfying as he’d hoped it would be.

He needed to make that life whole again. He’d built his contractor business, finished his schooling. Volunteered as a firefighter, was proud of his work there.

But he needed more. Wanted more.

He stepped carefully over the tangle of thick roots as he emerged from the lush forest. Damn tripping hazard, leading straight to Abby’s tent. He’d take care of that soon enough.

He looked up, saw the woman that still made his blood run hot, stalking off purposefully in the shoot director’s direction. The heat rose in him. He watched as the male models she was working with teased her. Decent guys, he could tell. Yet still, his gut tightened. He fought to rein in the instinct to brand her in front of all of them.

Me Tarzan, she Jane.

My Jane.

My Abby.

Dare gave a shaky breath. For someone who’d held his own in Special Ops, the woman from his past could still bring out the stupid in him. And even if they couldn’t get past their former issues, he so badly didn’t want to add to it.

He was going to have to get that particular brand of stupid under control. And the only way he could think of doing so at the moment was to corral his emotions as tightly as possible.

Forget his heart. That was over.